1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a server apparatus that provides a social networking service (hereinafter referred to as an SNS) and an image forming apparatus, an information processing apparatus, an image forming control method, and an image forming control program that use the SNS.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as a form of social interaction via the Internet, many SNSs have come to be used. A user is able to use an SNS by installing dedicated application software to a terminal apparatus such as a personal computer, a smartphone (high function portable telephone), and a tablet terminal and registering an account to a server apparatus of the SNS that the user wishes to join.
Furthermore, in recent years, in terminal apparatuses as described above, manuscripts such as photographs have been handled more often, for example, in photographing, downloading a photograph provided over an SNS, downloading a photograph or an article from a website, and receiving a photograph attached to an e-mail. With this, improvement has been desired in operability when an image of a manuscript stored in the terminal apparatus is formed on a piece of paper.
For example, when an image forming instruction is made from a personal computer to an image forming apparatus, a printer driver is activated and various image forming conditions are set before the image forming instruction is made. The various image forming conditions include selection of an image forming apparatus, a paper size, an image forming mode, for example, color or monochrome, printed surfaces, for example, simplex or duplex printing, a layout, a number of copies, and the like.
Meanwhile, as a technique of executing an image forming instruction via an Internet communication line, a network system is proposed with which a setting detail of an image forming condition is described in a text of an e-mail by an HTML program and an image forming instruction of a file attached to the e-mail is executed in a terminal apparatus that has received the e-mail (for example, see descriptions related to FIGS. 6 and 7, in particular, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-23935).
Furthermore, an image forming apparatus is also proposed with which when an image forming instruction in a natural language is written in a micro-blog as a message to an image forming apparatus, this message is converted into a format processable by the image forming apparatus using a service provided over the Internet and the message after conversion is received, whereby image formation is performed (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-49098).
However, the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-23935 attempts to simplify an image forming instruction at a receiving side of an e-mail. A transmitting side of the e-mail is not able to execute an image forming instruction when the transmitting side does not understand the description form of the HTML program. Furthermore, the program has to be described so as to set an image forming condition, such as a number of copies, an image forming mode, printing surfaces, and a layout, one by one. With this, the operability is not good.
With the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-49098 also, a message has to be described so as to set an image forming condition, such as specification of an image forming apparatus, a number of copies, printing surfaces, an image forming mode, and a postprocessing function, one by one. With this, the operability is not good.
It is desirable to provide a server apparatus, an image forming apparatus, an information processing apparatus, an image forming control method, and an image forming control program that are able to improve operability of setting of an image forming condition.